EQUAL PARTS LEAN AND FAT

Woke up in the middle of the night and drew food. Because food is beautiful. Doing it is a peaceful and concentrative act that gets the brain functioning in a particular way. And, of course, I love food. My apartment mate, however, is convinced that I am too scrawny.

That impression is not entirely accurate.

Not scrawny, but verging on wiry.

Not quite a lean bird.

Lions Head Meatballs (獅子頭 'si ji tau') are a classic dish in Jiang Wei Cuisine (江淮菜 'gong waai choi'), one of the four great regional styles of cooking in China. But Lions Heads are not limited to the Eastern region of the country, one will also find them in other areas, because meatballs are universal. Fatty ground pork bound with egg white and rolled large, browned lightly and placed on a bed of cabbage to finish cooking, with dashes of soy sauce, rice wine, and a hefty jigger of good meat stock. One must be gentle with them so that they do not fall apart in the pot.

They should be 'fluffy', not dense.

Traditionally there is garlic, ginger, and ground dry shrimp to flavour them. With the latter ingredient a delicate touch is best. The Shanghainese also like this, and it features in the New Years banquet among some Cantonese households (at that time called 四喜臨門 'sei hei lam mun'; "four joys approach the gate" -- four large meatballs in a casserole).

If I did not love meatballs I would be less of a Dutchman.
The "gehaktbal" is soulfood to Netherlanders.
We make them large as well.



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